When both Apple and the photo centric publication PetaPixel in the same week deem that Kino is the smartphone app of the year, I take notice.
Kino is an app for iPhone video shooters who want manual controls over what they see, and an alternative to the all-automatic sheen of making videos in the iPhone Camera app.
The cost is all of $9.99, and it’s a relative bargain.
What Apple said: “Kino shows users how cinematic life can be through its film-inspired filters and advanced controls.”
Petapixel: “Kino is just that one small extra step to mobile video capture that makes it a lot more approachable.”
Have you heard about iPhone video advancements in the 15 and 16 series that let you shoot video in the “ProRes,” and “Log” formats, for better control over your color and final filmic look to the project? The Kino app helps you make sense of all that and offers tools to make use of them in a way easier fashion than via the iPhone Camera app. On the iPhone Camera app, you have to take the time to process the images. Not so with Kino.
You also get the ability to shoot in manual focus and adjust the lighting with more refinement.
Kino comes from the folks at Lux, which also makes the Halide app, covered here a few months ago. It’s the still photo app for people who don’t like shooting everything in auto mode on the iPhone, and offers, like Kino, an unprocessed version of what you see in real life.
So let’s run down Kino.
In a welcome twist for an app developer, Lux actually begins the process with a manual telling you about all the features. But let’s admit it: no one wants to read. They just want to press buttons.
So let me tell you what they are.
* The tools shown on the main page are basic: Auto focus vs. manual, the choice of lenses (.5 ultra-wide, wide and telephoto, if you have them on your iPhone) the format you want to shoot in (LOG vs. regular processed video) and the welcome sight of audio meters, to let you know that you indeed have audio.
* Two other buttons send you to color grade options. Similar to Styles, Apple’s tools to apply different color looks to your photos, before or after the fact, these different kind of film looks are offered, and can be applied to the video before you start shooting. In tech terms, they’re called LUTs, and by having them right there in the app, it makes the editing process a whole lot easier, as they can be added before or after you shoot.
* A second arrow on the main page brings up more choices: White Balance lets you adjust the color, and you can also increase the stabilization, use the level tool to make sure your horizon is in check and flip the camera around to selfie mode.
Finally, there’s Settings, where you have the ability to apply more color grades (many are available for sale on the internet) and change the quality of your recording.
The big deal about the app is shooting in LOG (unprocessed video) and getting to apply the different filmic choices (called LUTs) directly to the video. The look is a little less sharpened and glossy, and more reminiscent of what things looked like in the film days.
Let’s be honest though. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a graded video and out of the camera automatic on the iPhone. I can, however, and I think it looks great. Since you read this newsletter, I’m guessing you’ll be able to tell the difference too.
My go-to video app is still Blackmagic Camera, which offers many of the same features, for free, plus the ability to record great timelapse videos, in a slightly more complicated fashion, but it’s really easy to recommend Kino. The app is for anyone who wants to improve the look of their videos and see what all the fuss is about from the filmmaking community for getting higher grade iPhone videos. For $9.99, you can’t go wrong.
You’ll need an iPhone 15 or 16 to get the most of the app. Kino is only available for iPhones. Sorry Android fans.
A Watch App too
In Petapixel’s best of article, it also signaled out a $6.99 Apple Watch app that should appeal to photographers, called Lumy. This app gives you information about sunrises and sunsets, when to expect Golden and Blue hour and more. “It works alongside Apple’s various Watch faces and is the perfect companion for outdoor photographers,” Petapixel said. I don’t have an Apple Watch (my old one won’t connect, and I don’t like wearing watches anyway,) but this sounds like great info I’d love to have on my wrist.
Other award winners
Petapixel named the iPhone 16 Pro the phone of the year, the new Mac Mini the computer of the year, and Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve editing software the desktop software of the year.
DaVinci is software that’s free, unlike $299 for Apple’s Final Cut Pro or a hefty monthly subscription (starts at $20.99) for Adobe Premiere, and is beloved by editors for color grading tools. Plus—ahem, it’s free. PetaPixel says it’s “powerful and fast, but also feature-rich.”
Of the iPhone, PetaPixel called it “the uncontested champ of content creation. No other smartphone comes close to the iPhone for making high-quality videos.” It signaled the phone out for the new Camera Control feature, which sounded great to me when it first came out, because it’s a one-click button to open the camera faster, but in reality, I haven’t used it since. It’s too cumbersome, and I find it easier to just open the camera the only way. Videos look great though!
Phone update
Last week I told you to be very wary of the “free” phone offers from the big 3 wireless companies, which, in a nutshell, will upgrade you to a higher rate program that you don’t need, give you an entry level phone with little storage on it and extend your contract another year to pay for the “free” device.
They also make you pay a hefty sales tax on the purchase price of the phone. Get a new iPhone 16 Pro for free? In California, add $100 tax and the $50 or so “activation” fee.
My mom Judy would like you to know that you can skip all those games by picking up a decent used model. She likes Androids, especially cheap old ones, and paid $175 for a Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (the current models are S25) for $175. That’s a little more than the tax/fees for the “free” device without having to pay for a higher rate contract or extend the terms.
She says:
“Had Samsung, so wanted same to be familiar with the workings. Not concerned about photo capabilities. Do take pictures. Mostly to upload to Etsy or eBay for items I'm selling. The cost, including tax, and new case, was less than tax on "free" phone. I’m very happy with decision not to get "free" phone.”
At $175, even if it was only one year of use, that’s great.
(To answer the question you’re thinking: I bought her a new phone earlier this year, but it was too small—she didn’t like it, and had me return it.)
YouTube TV Stinks!
Actually, I think the streaming alternative to cable TV is as good as it gets, with a easy to follow interface and the ability to record TV shows and watch them later. But the pricing is just out of whack. It was just a few years I covered the introductory press conference when it started with a $35 monthly rate. By 2024, it had climbed to $72.99 monthly, and this week YouTube announced a hefty $10 monthly price increase, to $82.99 monthly. The culprit? Higher programming costs.
To which I say: I left cable because I didn’t like paying over $100 a month to watch TV and get all these channels I never look at.
Fireworks
Last weekend the city of Manhattan Beach, where I live, kicked off the holidays, as it always does, with a big fireworks display, and as always, I was there to document it with a video. What was different this year though was that I made it a group project. A bunch of us camera enthusiasts got together at a local party, and then dispersed, to get different points of view of the rockets blasting. Having a New Year’s party this year around a fireworks display? You might try this method—as it makes for a more interesting video. The video clips were all shot on iPhones.
Thanks as always for taking the time to read, watch and listen! I’m off to the next big Photowalks shoot next week, back to San Francisco, so here’s hoping for lots of dry days!
Jeff
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